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Manley Piston installation : Ring Gap Help

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EagleTalonTim

15+ Year Contributor
830
13
Jan 10, 2007
Brighton, Tennessee
Hello all once again! I am installing my Manley Pistons and need help figuring out what end gap clearance I need for each of the rings. One other thing I am not sure about is which ring is which. I know the oil ring is right, but there are 2 colored rings that are in the kit. One is silver, and the other is black. The black one has a dot on one side which I know means to install towards the top of the piston. What order do they go in and what gap size is needed for each ring?

EDIT : I checked the factory ring gap which is .016 or .017
 
I have wiseco 85.5 pistons on Manley rods and my top ring is gapped at .024 and second at .021 piston to wall clearance at .003. HP goal between 450 - 500
evryone's settup is different depending on the HP they are planning to run. You can call Manley and ask a Tech for some advise and let him know how much HP ## planning on running.
Also there are many discussions on here on this type of topic. Hope this helps and Good Luck!!:hellyeah:
 
Thanks for the reply! I have decided to go .024 top and .21 on bottom as well. The build is at a stand still right now since on of my Clevite bearings came in dented and scratched which looks to be from the other bearing in the box rattling against it. I also just broke of my my rings installing it in the block to check end gap :( If it is not one thing, it is another......
 
I'm pretty sure the rings should be Chrome/Silver on top ring and Black the lower one. usually the top ring is gapped larger as it sees more heat from combustion and needs more room to expand. The more power adders you're gonna use or the more extreme you're gonna getwith them dictates how far to gap the rings but i take it you know that from gapping yours as open as you did..

I can't recall what i set mine at when i did my build, nowe you've got me curiouse, i know i made them large enough for big boost+ nitrous but can't recall my exact numbers hmmmmm...
 
Here is the specs. These should have come with the pistons.

http://www.manleyperformance.com/dl/tech/piston-rings.pdf

I used the "Blown Gas" as I don't plan to use nitrous at all.

according to that chart, a DSM bore at .020 over (85.5mm or 3.366") multiplied by their recomendations of .0055 for the top rng and .0035 for the second ringputs the gaps TIGHT as hell or am i doing something wrog at this time of morning??

Top rin by their math is .018"

second ring by their math is .011" !!!!!!!!!!!!!

They recomend a minimum of .015" in the same chart, those gaps seem a llittle tight for a "blown gas" engine

I run my gaps (although i can't remember exactly) but i know my top ring is at least .020" and my second is no smaller than .018" I do remember they are bigger than those digits. (i wanna say they are like .021-.022 and .019)
 
^ And I think remember thinking everything you just said. I know I ended up with higher 20's for the top ring and low 20's for the second. Those end gaps do seem very small considering most call for .020-.030 depending on setup.
 
Just found my notes from machinist in my "mitsu files" of all my DSM stuff' says in his notes add p2w clearance to ring end gap derrived from their chart, which new to my memory has the first ring larger than 2nd ring gap

my figures written down are

.021 and .019 respectively

And i still get 180psi compression reading from them, 9:1 ratio also.. but that's with cam settings of +4exh and -3int (someties cam degree seems to effect compression readings, and at +/-0exh and +/-0 int i usually get around 165psi
 
Wow how come everything is inverted from the last time I checked out ring end gaps?? I thought second ring was to be gapped larger than first to control top ring from fluttering? Even notes this per Wiseco instructions in box. I believe my specs are literally reversed being .020" on top and .024" second
 
I talked with total seal witch makes the rings for manley. They told me to run a larger gap then there chart shows as that is a minimum gap. Also the second ring gap should always be larger.

On the last 3 manley piston motors i built i used a .024 for the top and .028 for the 2nd ring.
 
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